Technology

Android platform data for the month of September is now in, and as it turns out, Google’s erstwhile newest mobile platform iteration, Android 4.4 KitKat, is now installed on almost one quarter of all Android phones and tablets.

Though, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is still the leading iteration in terms of market adoption (25.1 percent), KitKat isn’t close behind, as Android 4.4 zoomed to second place this month with a market share of 24.5 percent. In Google’s August report, KitKat had a 20.9 percent share, which was a significant increase from the 17.9 percent share in July. This makes it quite probable that Android 4.4 KitKat will take the lead in terms of adoption by the time Google rolls out its October report.

Even if Android versions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 were all named Jelly Bean, Google considered each of these versions as three separate iterations; Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was third behind Android 4.1 and Android 4.4 with a share of 20.7 percent.

Surprisingly, the now-ancient Android 2.3 Gingerbread took fourth place with a share of 11.4 percent. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich took fifth with a 9.6 percent share, while Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and Android 2.2 Froyo followed with market shares of 8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively. Other Android iterations combined to take up a share of 0.1 percent.

All told, it looks like Google’s September stats are proving its efforts to push newer Android versions and encourage consumers to update to these platforms are quite successful. It wasn’t long ago, after all, when the likes of Android Gingerbread were still enjoying widespread adoption, despite the fact that Android Jelly Bean was, at that time, the newest version out in the market.